Comedian, 32, reveals the 'brutal' truth about erasing 200 tattoos

Pete Davidson has almost finished wiping out the 200 tattoos that once covered his arms and chest, and he says the process has been "brutal".

The comedian, 32, gave the update to E! News at the New York premiere of his new film How to Rob a Bank on Tuesday, standing next to co-star Nicholas Hoult.

"You don't know what's going on under there," he joked, according to Page Six.

He started the removal in 2020, and six years on his arms are nearly bare. But he isn't ruling anything out. "They might come back," he joked.

He plans to keep only two or three of the old ones, Page Six reports. And he has already added a new one: his daughter Scottie's name on the side of his ear, which he showed off at CinemaCon in Las Vegas in April.

Scottie, his daughter with ex-girlfriend Elsie Hewitt, was born in December 2025.

'Worse' than the needle

Davidson has never pretended it's easy. On The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon in January 2025, he said he was "trying to clean-slate it" and that the ink was "almost gone".

"I've been burning them off," he said then, adding that getting rid of them felt worse than getting them.

"They burn off a layer of your skin, then it has to heal for six to eight weeks," he explained. "You can't get in the sunlight. And then you've got to do it, like, 12 more times."

He told Fallon's audience to think hard before getting inked, calling himself a "sad boy" back when he got most of his.

The tattoos also got in the way of his acting. On Late Night With Seth Meyers he said he could spend up to three hours in the make-up chair having them covered.

"For some reason, people in movies, they don't have them that much," he said.

Among the ink he's been burning off: tributes to his famous exes Ariana Grande, Kim Kardashian and Cazzie David.

The next James Bond?

At the premiere, he had another surprise. With Hoult, who has been rumoured to be in the running for James Bond, standing right next to him, Davidson claimed the role for himself.

"It's going to be me," he told E! News. "Plot twist. I will be the first American James Bond."

Then he gave his co-star his blessing. "If anyone should get it, it's this guy next to me," Davidson said. "He's the best guy for the job."

Hoult, who has three kids with Bryana Holly, has been a big help in Davidson's first year as a dad, he said. "Very supportive and checks in," Davidson said. "We both check in on each other's families and see how they're doing because that's what friends do."

How to Rob a Bank is in theaters from Nov. 13.